Every CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year Winner Ever

It's always at the end of the CMA Awards ceremony. The audience full of fans and the country stars alike wait with eager anticipation to hear the name called for the evening's highest honor: Entertainer of the Year.

Since the CMA Awards' inception in 1967, when Eddy Arnold nabbed the first-ever Entertainer of the Year trophy, there have been many deserving country singers awarded the title. In 1972, Loretta Lynn became the first woman to be named Entertainer of the Year; after more than five decades, Barbara Mandrell and Taylor Swift are the only women who have won it twice.

Names such as as Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney and Alabama have all been called following that excruciating pause before the big reveal. Garth Brooks won twice in the early 1990s, twice again in the late '90s, and then twice again in 2016 and 2017, before ceding his crown to Keith Urban. Flip through the photo gallery below to see who else has won the big prize throughout the years.

Urban will have a chance to defend his crown at the 2019 CMA Awards: He's competing for the Entertainer of the Year trophy against Brooks, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and Carrie Underwood. The annual awards show is scheduled for Nov. 13, when it will air live from Bridgestone Arena on ABC beginning at 8PM ET.